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Josh Abbott
principal lawyer, employment, safety and migration
meet Joshabout Josh
Josh Abbott delivers clear, commercially sound guidance to employers, helping them navigate the weaving complexities of the modern workplace. With a practical and solutions-focused approach, Josh supports businesses, Directors, and Executives across all aspects of the employment relationship, including drafting contracts, policies and procedures, as well as advising on workplace disciplinary and bullying issues, restructuring, and termination of employment.
For 25 years Josh’s clients have valued his responsiveness, depth of knowledge, and ability to navigate sensitive issues with confidence and care. His practice includes advising on industrial relations, enterprise bargaining, award interpretation, and managing workers compensation claims and disputes. He also assists clients with protecting confidential information and intellectual property, enforcing restraints of trade, and resolving workplace bullying and harassment matters.
In addition to employment law, Josh provides strategic advice on insurance and compliance with work health and safety laws, environmental protection legislation, and directors’ due diligence obligations for Boards and Directors. He has extensive experience representing employers in all employment disputes and defending claims and regulatory prosecutions before courts and tribunals.
“Clients value Josh’s strategic advice to fix their workplace problems and his commercial approach to resolving their disputes”
Areas of Expertise
Employment and independent contractor agreements
Policies, procedures and risk management
Enterprise bargaining and award interpretation
Protection of confidential information and intellectual property
Client protection and restraint of trade
Work health and safety
Mergers & Acquisitions
Restructuring and redundancy
Workers compensation claims management and dispute resolution
Defending claims for unfair dismissal, harassment, general protections, underpayment and bullying
Insurance
industries
Health Aged Care and Retirement Living
Hospitality and retail
Civil construction
Manufacturing and primary industries
Transport
Professional services
additional qualifications
Professional Certificate in Arbitration (The University of Adelaide)
Diploma, Company Directors Course (Australian Institute of Company Directors)
recent experience
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withdrawal of unfair dismissal claim
Josh advised a client with its investigation and disciplinary process into an employee’s misconduct involving theft and diverting business opportunities away from the client. The dismissed employee via her union made an unfair dismissal application in the Fair Work Commission. Upon receiving the Employer Response drafted by Josh, the dismissed employee withdrew her application conceding that the dismissal was fair.
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defence of WHS prosecution
Josh advised a client and its directors throughout an investigation and prosecution brought by SafeWork SA relating to a significant injury to one of its employees. Josh assisted the client through this difficult period with remedying its WHS processes and its early guilty plea resulting in the South Australian Employment Tribunal ordering a reduced fine.
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negotiating underpayment claim
Josh advised a client in response to a claim brought by a union on hehalf of a number of employees alleging underpayments and misclassifications under its Enterprise Agreement. Josh assisted the client to achieve a settlement for a significantly reduced amount than the amount claimed by the union, and with the union agreeing not to bring an application for penalties against the client under the Fair Work Act.
